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Transparency of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 08:43:39 -0500
Begin forwarded message:
From: James Love <james.love () keionline org> Date: November 3, 2009 8:12:23 AM EST To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>Subject: Transparency of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)
Dave, The following letter to President Obama expresses the views of several groups and individuals concerning the transparency of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). James Love -------- Forwarded Message -------- November 3, 2009 President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, We are writing to express our concerns about the lack of transparency and openness surrounding the negotiations on a new Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Despite its name, the ACTA is designed as a trade agreement that will cover a wide range of intellectual property enforcement issues, including norms for both governments and civil litigation, as well as criminal sanctions. While we agree that the enforcement of intellectual property rights is very important, it isalso a complex area where the “solutions” to the enforcement issues areoften controversial, and it is important to balance a variety of competing interests, and to ensure that measures to enforce privateintellectual property rights do not undermine civil rights and privacy,or unduly impede innovation.Unlike nearly all other multilateral and plurilateral discussions aboutintellectual property norms, the ACTA negotiations have been held in deep secrecy. This has led to a chorus of criticism, and demands that the ACTA process be opened up, and that documents in ACTA negotiations be disclosed, as they are routinely in intellectual property negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or the World Trade Organization (WTO). After a year of criticism over the secrecy of this negotiation, the White House United States Trade Representative (USTR) recently began apolicy of offering some persons access to documents in this negotiation,on the condition that they sign a non disclosure agreement (NDA) that prevents any public discussion of the contents of those documents. The opportunity to see the ACTA documents under the NDA was offered to a large number of business interests, but very few public interest orconsumer groups, and there were no opportunities for academic experts orthe general public to review the documents. USTR officials have indicated that this policy of access by invitationand NDA fully addresses the legitimate demands for more transparency ofthe negotiation, and it is being considered as a model for the future.We are opposed to this approach because it creates a small special class of citizens who have rights superior to the majority of the population, and because it gives the government too much discretion in deciding who can monitor and criticize its operations. We have no confidence in thisnew approach. Some of the people who have signed such NDAs are grateful forthe chance to have had special access to some information, but they alsofeel constrained by the inability to discuss the contents of the documents, and are confident that nothing they have seen constitutesinformation that in any way would prejudice the national security of theUnited States if it were in fact disclosed. In our opinion, the ACTA negotiations would not exist without the support and engagement of the U.S. government, and they are too important to continue under such questionable practices.The only rationale for keeping the proposed ACTA text from the public isto suppress criticism and critical thinking about the norms that are being proposed. It is Orwellian and an insult to our intelligence toclaim that the secrecy of the ACTA text has anything to do with nationalsecurity concerns, as the term is commonly understood. A secret process of arbitrary access, conditioned upon signing non-disclosure agreements to block public debate, does not enhance openness and transparency, and does not inspire respect for the norms that will eventually emerge. We ask that when documents such as proposals for ACTA text are circulated to all governments in the negotiations, and when those documents are shared with dozens of Washington, DC insiders, they also be shared with everyone else. cc: USTR Ambassador Ron Kirk, Stan McCoy, Tim Reif Department of Commerce, Secretary Gary Locke, David Kappos, Arti Rai, Susan Wilson Department of State, Hillary Clinton, Jean Bonilla White House, Andrew McLaughlin, Susan Crawford, Vivek Kundra, Beth Noveck, Robynn Sturm, Tom Kalil, Victoria Espinel, Aneesh Chopra Senators Patrick Leahy, Max Baucus, Al Franken, Sherrod Brown, Bernie SandersRepresentatives Nancy Pelosi, Henry Waxman, Charles Rangel, Sander LevinDepartment of Justice Sincerely, US signatories Knowledge Ecology International David Bollier, Onthecommons.org Ed Mierzwinski, U.S. PIRG Public Citizen Essential Action Electronic Frontier Foundation IP Justice Health Action International (HAI) Global Lawrence Lessig, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MAJames Boyle, Professor, Duke Law School (Institution for IdentificationEllen Miller, Sunlight Foundation Brook Baker, Health GAP and Northeastern University School of LawKevin Outterson, Associate Professor of Law & Co-Director of the HealthLaw Program, Boston University Peter Suber, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University Laura DeNardis, Executive Director, Yale Information Society Project Amy Kapczynski, Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley Law School Purposes Only) Students for Free Culture Entertainment Consumers Association Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure e.V Nuria Homedes, Salud y Farmacos Wouter Tebbens, Free Knowledge Institute David S. Levine, Assistant Professor, Elon University School of Law Holly Jarman, Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, SUNY Albany Katherine J. Strandburg, Professor of Law, New York University Garin Fons, Open Michigan Initiative, University of Michigan Adam Clark Estes, Director of Citizen Journalism, Huffington Post Investigative FundAndrew Norton, Former head of both the US Pirate Party and Pirate PartyInternational Chris Nuckols, Pirate Party, WAJosh Casiano, Founder, Southwestern University Students for Free CultureElizabeth Stark, Fellow and Lecturer, Yale University Ron Winograd, IL Andrew Barthel, Yale University Thomas Gideon, Host and Producer of The Command Line Podcast Alec Stefansky, Brewer, Uncommon Brewers, Santa Cruz, CA Michael S Hazen, Actor, Writer, Technologist, Software developer, WA Chris Hankin, MD Mark Schumann, CA Daniel Gilbert, CA Mike Spitalieri, Clifton, NJ William C Waggoner, Bethel, CT Dan Devine, Software Developer, Cequint Incorporated, Seattle, WA Meredith Schmitt, Attorney, IL Bruce Ediger, Denver, CO Mike Margulies, CA Phillip Mocek, Seattle, WA John K. Dahlman, Musician & Photographer, Parkville, MD Arthur Barstad, Portland, OR Bryan Colley, MOKeaton Stagaman, Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Universityof Oregon, OR Joshua Zelinsky, MA Shawn Anderson, DE Mike Marone, Portland, OR Steven Brudenell, Software Developer, Auton Lab Sean Murphy, Portland, OR Kim Pallister, OR Christopher Sanders, St. Louis, MO Aaron Howard, Technology Consultant, OH Quinn Dombrowski, Chicago, IL Rebecca Egipto, San Diego, CA Alex Thorp, Southlake, TX Ted Wright, MO Catherine Blanchard, Princeton, NJ Jaclyn Duehr, IL Sam Blanchard, Princeton, NJ Sean Moriva, WI Pete Perfetti, Pittsburgh, PA Michael Hyde, NY Gabriel J. Michael, George Washington University Chris Heightchew, IL John and Tama Davies, Lawrence, KS Kevin J. Burgam, Norton Shores, MI Tim Heatwole, Baltimore, MD William Carter, NC Brian Rowe, Freedom for IP Jared Gray Stephen Ferrari, Boston, MA William G Mason, Cedar Rapids, IA Eric Brown, PA Randy Bush, Computer Scientist, Bainbridge Island, WA Aaron Larson, Dayton, OH Howard Bales, Portland, OR James E. Van Cleave, Army signal corps veteran and 22 year broadcast engineer Great Falls, MT Rob Toyias, CA Clyde Wright, Sunnyvale, CA Dave Brunker Ted Snyder, Madison, WI Daniel Croft, Security Consultant, Portland, OR Michael Hasse, WA Stephen Hill, Lawrence, KS Doug Dingus, Forest Grove, OR Steve Chambers, Austin, TX Richard Harding, Tecnologist, Beverly, MA Nate Hitchcock, Artist and Curator, IL David Quist, Albany, NY Bryan Faubus, NC Mitchell Wagner, IN Charles G. Waugh, Professional Artist, Portland, OR Bobby Martin, President NavTools.com, Arlington, TX Justin Talbot, Graduate student, Rochester Institute of Technology Owen Pierce, MI Francesco Pierfederici, MA Greg Bryant, KS Carolyn Sortor, Dallas, TX James O'Keefe, MA Bruce Spragg, Columbus, Ohio Cushing Whitney, President, BitLathe LLC Jonathan Lipkin, Professor of Digital Media, Ramapo College of New Jersey Christopher Hord, Henderson, NV Christopher Hopper, TX Ezekiel Weeks, Fort Collins, CO Nick Dynice, Long Beach, CA Larry Campbell, Brookline, MA Bryon Cannon, Publisher, Tessella Books, KS Christian Yetter, Writer, Manhattan, KS Tyler Good, Student in game design and development, FL Erin Meehan, WA James Adkins, AZ David Schuldt, PA Jason Cerundolo, Lexington, MA Jesse Latimer, CA Brett Battjer, Washington, DC Megan S. Rorie, Dallas, TX Michael Donohoe, Software Developer, Brooklyn, NY David Serafino, Graduate Student, University of Virginia Chase Hoffman, Information Technology Professional, Austin, TX Josh McFarland, Hot Springs, AR John Ramsey, Web Developer and Musician Erin A. Kinser, Columbus, OH Doug Flint, Denver, CO Sean Murphy, Portland, OR Andrew Slayman, Photographer, Denver, CO Jason Gantenberg, Naperville, IL Aaron Turner, Software Developer, San Jose, CA Bryan Oltman, Olathe, KS Hyman Rosen, New York, NY RJ Herrick, CT Andrew Neely, Omaha, NE Ben Seigel, Madison, WI Alan Wexelblat, Writer and Photographer, MA Alex Kemmler, Chicago, IL Christina Rogers, MO Craig Buchek, St. Louis, MO Bill Seitz, IL John Irvine, MO Sam Blanchard, Princeton, NJ Gregory Caruso, Boston, MA Jim McLuckie, Musician and Filmmaker, Ferndale, MI Balfour S. Smith, Durham, NC Steve Helm, Blacksburg, VA Mike Linksvayer, Oakland, CA John Drop, Professor, GA Michael Ahlers, Arlington, VA Adam Gravois, Austin, TX Steve Dirsa, St. Louis, MO Matt Scoville, Salt Lake City, UT Beta Bisrat, Web Developer, Washington DC Lalita Aisola, High School Teacher, San Jose, CA Jeremy Forbing, San Francisco, CA Aaron M. Hutzel, Canonsburg, PA Jason Cunningham Nathaniel Luders, San Lorenzo, CA Barton Christopher Junior, VA Brenda Dayne, OR Chris Gaeden, Santa Rosa, CA Dan McDougall, FL Ben Broderick Phillips, MA Curtis Carmony, NM Sonya Dunne Bruce Lerner, Systems Engineer, CT Bradford A. Patrick, Tampa, Florida Nathanael Nerode, Software Programmer & Investment Advisor, Ithaca, NY Alberto Gaitán, Arlington, VA Dylan Cascio Pratik Chhetri, Pre-med student, Central Michigan University-CMU Percy Hatcherson, Chicago, IL Ron Goldman, Los Altos, CA Jesse Williams Bruce Ryan, Seattle WA International signatories Health Action International (HAI) Europe La Quadrature du Net, France Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, University of Ottawa Cory Doctorow, Fellow, Electronic Frontier Foundation and bestselling novelist Francisco Viegas Neves da Silva, Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDSAssociation (ABIA), Working Group on Intellectual Property (GTPI/ REBRIP)Ellen 't Hoen, Lawyer, Switzerland Pedro Paranaguá, Assistant-Professor at FGV School of Law-Rio and Doctorate candidate at Duke University School of Law Karolina Tuomisto, Medical Student, Finland Tako Taal, Berlin, Germany Jamie King, Film Director, Berlin Germany Felix Stalder, Net TimeJoão Sérgio da Silva Costa, Informatics Technician/Univertsity Stude nt,Brazil Tiago Rangel Côrtes, Student, Brazil Jochen Ahleff, Software Developer, Munich, Germany David Guy, Brantford, ON, Canada Xavi Drudis Ferran, Software Developer, Catalonia Tong Yew Sum, Malaysia -- James Love, Director, Knowledge Ecology International http://www.keionline.org | mailto:james.love at keionline.org Wk: +1.202.332.2670 | US Mobile +1.202.361.3040 | Geneva Mobile +41.76.413.6584
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- Transparency of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) Dave Farber (Nov 03)